Last updated on October 17, 2024
Ocelot Pride | Illustration by Chris Seaman
Energy quickly became the most popular deck in the Modern meta following the ban of Nadu, Winged Wisdom, according to a data study by X user Grayson Nemets using MTGGoldfish data.. This was expected, but wasn't quite as expected was that energy would hold a greater share of the Modern metagame than any other now-banned deck at its peak. In other words, Energy is now more dominant than Eldrazi, Scam, Twin, Pod, or BBE Jund ever were, and by nearly 5%.
Source: Puffsun2
To anyone connected to the Modern format, this doesn't come as a shock. Energy was wildly popular before its best counterpart was banned, and nothing has come to fill the void in the last two months.
To make matters worse, the once aggro-focused deck has begun running multiple copies of The One Ring, making that card more popular than any other card, even lands, in the format. Modern has never been hegemonic, ever.
Of course, there are a few aspects of the data to keep in mind, like how long each deck lasted until it was banned. Decks like Nadu and Hogaak were essentially banned on sight and didn't reach their peak potential popularity. Energy has avoided multiple bans and has had time to mature.
When Will Wizards Act?
The One Ring | Illustration by Veli Nystrom
So, at a time where one deck, and even one card, are more dominant than any other deck at any other point in a format's history, it begs the question: when is the next Banned and Restricted announcement? Not remotely close— not until two months from now on December 16th.
If Wizards of the Coasts' behavior over the last year has been any indicator, it's unlikely we'll get anything between now and then. Especially when the only large tournament coming up is the MTG World Championships, which will be DSK Limited and Standard.
The finance community also understands this issue, which means the problem cards at hand are maintaining their high price tags. The One Ring is still around $70, Orcish Bowmasters at $50, and Ocelot Pride at $45. Compare that to Nadu, Winged Wisdom when it was at its peak play, but had a price tag of just a few dollars due to the anticipation of it being axed any day.
To sums things up, the community has no faith that this deck will be delt with any time soon, and that the status quo will be maintained through the rest of the year.
Wrap Up
This isn't the first time that Modern has been under the shadow of one ultra-powerful and domineering deck. However, it is the first time that the oppression has been so potent and to such a degree.
When The One Ring is more popular than fetch lands, when one deck is almost so popular you're practically guaranteed to see it at every other table in a competitive event, and when there is no faith from the community that it'll be banned any time soon, the positive things to say about the format are far and few between.
How are you feeling about the Modern format? Are you just putting up with things until December, or have you tried fighting fire with fire? Are you even playing at all? Let me know in the comments below, or come chat about it in the official Draftsim Discord!
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2 Comments
Energy is an impossible mechanic to balance, and it’s clear they didn’t really try. It’s like they didn’t even think about how to scale things back. Like, what if Guide of Souls didn’t trigger for tokens? What if Ocelot Pride was legendary? What if Ajani’s damage either went strictly to the dome or to creatures? What if Raptor could only hit non creature spells? What if Galvanic Blast used up all of the energy in your pool regardless of how much was in there. There are lot’s of ways to fix these cards–they just figured, “meh, the format can handle it fine.”
From the set that gave us Nadu, I wouldn’t be surprised if little actual playtesting went into these cards.
If it did, which I would hope is the case, they definitely missed the mark.
Probably the nail in the coffin for a third attempt at energy any time soon.
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